Share This Story!

Nevada Athletic Commission boss Keith Kizer steps down

Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the last eight years, resigned Friday from his position as the head of the most powerful boxing and mixed martial arts commission

Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission for nearly eight years, resigned Friday from his position as the head of the most powerful boxing and mixed martial arts commission in the U.S.

He will return to the state's attorney general's office as a deputy attorney general. And he won't have to move far, just down the hall from his current office.

Kizer's last day on the job with the commission that regulates boxing and mixed martial arts in the state will be Jan. 27. He said he decided to step down now while there's a lull in boxing and MMA events in Nevada.

"I can go back to my chosen profession as a lawyer," he told USA TODAY Sports by phone. "Last year we had the biggest boxing event ever. And we had the second and third biggest MMA events in the United States, so I'm very happy with my time there, but it's almost one of those things that, if you don't leave now, when are you going to leave?"

The search for Kizer's successor will begin immediately. In 2006, after years of being the attorney for the commission, he replaced Marc Ratner as executive director. Ratner went to work for Zuffa, which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as the vice president for regulatory affairs.

Kizer, 47, will leave behind a mostly positive legacy. Under his watch, the health and safety of fighters improved, and a more aggressive drug-testing policy was implemented that included all fighters being tested. He also worked to begin out-of-competition testing, which pound-for-pound boxing king Floyd Mayweather insisted for his fights.

"I've never been a person who thinks people should dictate their own legacy, I'll leave that to others," Kizer said. "But I'll tell you what I'm proud of. I'm proud that the commission's top priority before my time, during my time and I'm sure after my time, will be health and safety. These are inherently dangerous sports, and it's great that with the commission's policies during the last eight years, we've had no ring deaths. And any serious injuries that occurred in the ring have resolved themselves better than expected. The few serious injuries we've had have healed well."

Kizer is also proud of his push for more stringent drug-testing.

"Marc didn't have the resources I have, but he was testing two-to-four fighters per card, and I'm testing everybody," Kizer said. "We also were able to get out-of-competition testing through the legislature, we were able to get a partnership with the Salt Lake City WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) lab, when we did (Timothy) Bradley and (Juan Manuel) Marquez, and we did a couple of UFC guys last month.

"The lab testing did very well and I'm sure we'll continue to do that after I leave in two weeks. I also think the prosecutions we had, both when I was an attorney and the executive director, have been very successful, and also very fair prosecutions, and the commission's been very fair in meting out penalties.

"And we added instant replay, which would've helped another jurisdiction a week ago Friday (in Minneapolis, when Rances Barthelemy's knockout of Argenis Mendez came after the bell and was counted). So it was great having the instant replay come into play and having it implemented in a very effective way, without being over-burdensome."

Kizer capped off his time as executive director with the highest-grossing boxing card of all time, in May 2013, when Floyd Mayweather defeated Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight grossed $150 million.

"We had nine of the 10 biggest MMA events in Nevada history and five of the top 10 boxing events in boxing history (under my watch)", he said. "The eight biggest fiscal years we had were all under my directorship. Despite the recession, the total gates went up, and they did have that faith in me from different promoters."

He was also at the center of several simmering controversies over questionable judging calls during the past few years. The most controversial one came when the three judges selected by the commission ruled Timothy Bradley as a split-decision winner against Manny Pacquiao in June 2012. Most media at ringside had Pacquiao winning a lop-sided decision.

Bob Arum, the Hall of Fame promoter who was handling both fighters, said after the decision was announced, "Nobody who knows anything about boxing could have Bradley ahead in the fight."

Arum called for Kizer's old (and soon to be new) employer, the Nevada attorney general's office, to investigate. No illegalities were found to have occurred, though the World Boxing Organization, which sanctioned the bout, picked five judges to watch and score the bout and unanimously said Pacquiao won the fight. That did not change the decision, however.

Kizer stood by his judges, as he did in May 2013, when Mayweather was awarded a majority decision against Alvarez in a fight that appeared to be one-sided. He defended judge CJ Ross, who was also part of the Pacquiao-Bradley decision. She scored Mayweather-Alvarez a draw.

"Just because a judge's scorecard ends up even, doesn't mean the judge necessarily thought the fight as a whole was even," Kizer told USA TODAY Sports the next day. "It could be that a judge has six rounds for each fighter, but the six rounds she gave fighter A, she gave them to him easily and the six rounds she gave fighter B, they were really close rounds. That's pretty much how it was last night."

A short time later, Ross stepped down as a fight judge.

"We did have some controversies, It's not uncommon," he said. "But Marc always reminds me that he had De La Hoya-Trinidad (Oscar De La Hoya dominated much of the one-sided title fight but Trinidad won the last couple of rounds and was awarded a majority decision, De La Hoy's first career loss), which was the worst up until recently. It happens. But all in all, we had a very good crew of officials as well as a great staff and great commissioners."

Kizer was also in the middle of a UFC judging controversy last year at the MGM Grand, when his judges scored a split decision victory for Georges St-Pierre against Johny Hendricks.

UFC President Dana White was so incensed he said afterwards, "I think the Nevada State Athletic Commission is atrocious. I think the governor needs to step in immediately before these guys destroy this sport like they did boxing. . . . It's absolute 100 percent incompetence, and it needs to stop, and I'm scared to come back here and do fights. I'm afraid of this state."

White later retracted his statements and called the NSAC the best commission in the world.

Kizer was asked if he had any regrets. "No, not really. Nobody's perfect," he said. "The commission's by no means perfect, but we have a great reputation for a good reason. There's always squabbles here and there but that's part of a job like this, where a difference of opinions are not a bad thing. They may lead to arguments but that gets you to a higher standard, having the debate and the discussion.

"During my time, we popped more than 100 guys for substance abuse. I certainly wish the usage rate had been lower. I wish everyone was clean and we didn't catch anybody because there was no one to catch. But that's not reality. But I do think (usage) is down because of the deterrent effect, and partly because the public (and media) really harping on the stuff, and people saying, 'hey guys, you're playing a dangerous game here.'

"If I had a magic wand, that would be what I'd wish for, that (performance-enhancing drug) usage would go all the way down to zero. Hopefully it will someday."